In the art, there is a desire to have a concept for preventing systematic fault attacks by means of radiation, for example, ionizing radiation, on digital circuits, such as may occur in ICs for security applications.
Conventionally, light sensors, which are embodied as analog circuits and designed to protect the entire IC or at least very large portions thereof against global (large-area) attacks, but not individual, smaller circuit blocks against local attacks (on areas of few μm2 up to several 100 μm2), are integrated on ICs for security applications.
Moreover, the functional principles of such analog circuits are based on different physical effects than those which are utilized in fault attacks on digital circuits, e.g., static CMOS gates, in order to achieve the desired malfunction. Therefrom, it also follows that local fault attacks on individual, small circuit blocks cannot be recognized with sufficient probability by these analog circuits.
It becomes clear from the above that there is a desire for a concept of detection of a local fault attack on an integrated circuit or a chip card.